Rs 2 lakh bribe lands I-T chief in CBI custody

The CBI has arrested income-tax commissioner (appeal) Ramful Meena and a chartered accountant for demanding and accepting a bribe from an engineer.

Meena, who was arrested on Friday, had demanded Rs 10 lakh from the techie to give a closure report in his favour, but finally settled for Rs 2.20 lakh.

CBI joint director Rishi Raj Singh said, "According to the techie, Meena began harassing him after he approached him in connection with his tax assessment for 2006-07." Meena said the engineer was liable to pay Rs 20 lakh, and demanded the bribe to dispose of his appeal.

Meena, a 1987-batch IRS officer, was picked up from his official residence on Nepean Sea Road. Both Meena and the CA were produced in court on Saturday, and have been remanded in police custody till July 12.

According to Singh, Meena insisted on the bribe despite the complainant pleading with him that he was just an employee in a firm. Finally, after negotiation, Meena asked the engineer to contact U A Pai, a CA who would receive the money on his behalf.

However, the engineer approached the CBI and lodged a complaint. He was given a phone and conversation-recording equipment and sent with the money. With police officers keeping a close watch, the engineer met Pai at a hotel in Fort with the bribe money. Cornered, Pai reportedly created a scene, trying to push the policemen and insisting that he had nothing to do with the money. However, it didn't take long before he admitted to being party to the wrongdoing.

Pai revealed that Meena had instructed him to hand over the money to a person who would come with the I-T commissioner's visiting card with his signature on it. "We waited for that person, and as soon as he came, we found the card signed by Meena on him," Singh said. According to CBI sources, the man who had come with Meena's card had collected money on his behalf on three other occasions too.

Meanwhile, when the CBI team reached Meena's residence, he got suspicious and tried to throw his mobile phone out. It is learnt that Meena used to use the mobile to talk to his contacts. The I-T chief was also found to be in possession of three more cellphones, all in fictitious names and belonging to other telecom circles. It is suspected that they too were being used for similar illegal transactions.

The CBI is scrutinizing Meena's call records and looking into a bank locker in Jaipur belonging to him. It has come to light that Meena has a house each in Delhi and Dausa (Rajasthan) and a plot in Jaipur. Searches are also on at Pai's residence and two offices. Incriminating documents have reportedly been seized.

When asked about several income tax officials being caught for taking bribes but being reinstated after getting bail, Singh said, "When we receive complaints, we take action. Our job is to act on complaints and submit our reports to the court."

Sega website hacked, 1.3m customers' data stolen

Hackers have stolen the personal data of some 1.29 million customers of the Japanese game maker Sega, the company said on Sunday, in a theft via a website of its European unit.

The Sega Pass website, operated by London-based Sega Europe, did not contain credit card information, the Japanese firm said.

But names, dates of birth, e-mail addresses and encrypted passwords were stolen by intruders to the site, Sega said in a Japanese-language statement, adding the theft had been confirmed on Friday.

"We sincerely apologize for troubles this incident has caused to our customers," it said. The service, which has been suspended, was mainly to announce new product information to registered customers, Sega said.
"An investigation has been launched to find the cause and channels used for the leakage," it said. No other websites managed by Sega have come under attack, it said.

2G scam: DMK MP Kanimozhi back in jail after SC rejects bail plea

Rajya Sabha MP and 2G co-accused K
Kanimozhi looks at a long haul in jail as the
Supreme Court – her last hope -- rejected
her bail plea in the spectrum case.
The bail plea of Sharad Kumar, the managing
director of Kalaignar TV, was also rejected.
The apex court asked Kanimozhi and Kumar
to approach CBI special court for bail after
charges were framed against them. The
Bench said the CBI court can thereafter
decide on their pleas, uninfluenced by the
earlier bail proceedings.
Kanimozhi and Kumar have been accused by
the Central Bureau of Investigation of being
involved in the illegal transaction of Rs 200
crore to Kalaignar TV which was alleged to
be a bribe given by a telecom operator that
benefitted in the scam.
The CBI has rubbished their claim that the
money was a loan to their television
channel. Both Kanimozhi and Kumar hold 20
per cent shares each in the channel.

A special Supreme Court Bench heard the
plea today after two judges recused
themselves from hearing the matter last
week.
Kanimozhi made an impassioned plea for
her freedom but faced a tough time before
the Bench headed by Justice G S Singvi.
Singhvi has been monitoring the case from
the beginning and had asked searching
questions to the government on the role of
several influential people in the multi-crore
scam.
It was the last hope for DMK chief M
Karunanidhi's 43-year-old daughter
Kanimozhi, who has been in jail for almost a
month. Her plea for bail was rejected first by
the special CBI court and then by the Delhi
High Court.

India will get access to Swiss Bank

Once the Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement (DTAA) is ratified at the Parliaments of India and Switzerland, India will be given access to the information it wants on bank deposits and accounts of Indians.

Switzerland’s Ambassador to India H E Philippe Welti disclosed this here on Friday.

At a session on ‘Switzerland- India: A strong partnership, investment & business opportunities’, he said the Indian Parliament was ready to ratify the DTAA and Switzerland would do it soon.

Switzerland, Welti said, still had distinction between tax fraud and tax evasion.

“While tax fraud is a crime, tax evasion is not, though it is prohibited in our country.

We have strict rules for banks and have signed about 70-75 bilateral treaties and agreements with several SAARC countries,” he explained.

Further, he said around 120 Swiss manufacturers had their presence in India, out of which 20-30 were in Bangalore. “We are especially focused on manufacturing, science and technology, and hi-tech sectors, such as information technology and nanotechnology,” said Welti.

Informing that there was a 30 per cent growth in the number of visa applications from India over the past year, he said the new South Consul General office in Bangalore would be functional in near future and would cater to the visa applicants from south India.

At the meet, Executive Director of Swissnex India, Sylvia Hostettler, said they were involved in 22 research projects in the country. “Our key areas of focus are nanotech, IT, health sciences, urban development and renewable energy, among others,” she explained.

Two judges recuse from hearing Kani’s bail plea

A two-Judge Bench of the Supreme Court on Friday recused itself from scheduled hearing of DMK MP Kanimozhi’s bail plea on Monday, prompting the Chief Justice of India (CJI) to refer the case before a special Bench comprising Justice G S Singhvi who is monitoring the probe in the 2G spectrum scam case.

A Bench of Justice Singhvi and Justice B S Chauhan would now hold the hearing on bail plea of the daughter of DMK Chief M Karunanidhi and Kalaignar TV MD Sharad Kumar on June 20.

Justices P Sathasivam and A K Patnaik, who are now presiding over a Vacation Bench, informed the CJI Justice S H Kapadia about their decision recusing from hearing the case.

Kanimozhi and Kumar have been in jail since May 20 after a special Court had denied them bail for their alleged role in the 2G scam. Both are accused of receiving more than Rs 200 crore for Kalaignar TV from accused Shahid Balwa’s firm allegedly as quid pro quo for spectrum allocation.The case has seen several high-profile persons including corporate honchos behind the bars.

Earlier, the CBI filed an affidavit in the Court opposing their bail pleas contending that they could influence witness and tamper with the evidence after being released from jail.  The probe agency also trashed the plea made by Kanimozhi and Kumar that Rs 200 crore money was received as loan amount.

CBI also referred to the order passed by the Delhi High Court denying bail to both the accused. It maintained that the High Court had dismissed their plea for bail after examining different material evidence and other factors.

Taking up the hearing on the bail petitions, the apex Court had on June 13 asked CBI to explain where the Rs 200 crore, allegedly diverted to DMK-owned Kalaignar TV in 2G scam, had gone and also to file a response in a week's time.

A Bench comprising Justice Chauhan and Justice Swatanter Kumar had also asked CBI to come out with a status report on the loss to the state exchequer due to the award of 13 licences to one of the telecom operators besides the trial proceedings in the CBI special Court.

Kanimozhi and Kumar had moved the apex Court seeking bail on June 10 challenging the Delhi High Court verdict rejecting their bail on the ground that they had strong political connections and there was a possibility of them influencing witnesses.